1. Description of the Prior Art
Motorized and powered vegetable peelers and other scrapers as well as individual cutter constructions are all well known. Some peelers involve a detached motor cord connected to an electrically rotatable body carrying a cutter of various types to be pressed against a hard vegetable for peeling. Such a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,612 and in British patent specification No. 505,515. Many different cutter constructions per se are used for cutting wood, peeling plywood layers, and other applications and usually comprise equally spaced blades around a central body with the blade performing a specific operation. The cutters are not selective and they cut wood, metal, plastic, and fingers with equal ease and generally clog on soft, sticky items like vegetables and fruits. An invention directed to a specific cutter construction with a particular relationship between the blades and adjacent cutting recess to minimize the risk of cutting the user's skin is described in application Ser. No. 786,649 filed concurrently and of common assignment. It is also known to provide a splatter shield to deflect the cuttings or peelings as shown in British patent specification No. 505,515. Such shields have not been used for the dual purpose of protecting against peelings and as release mechanism for cutters.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a dual purpose cutter and shield release assembly whereby a cutter with longitudinal blades, difficult to remove axially is provided with a shield assembly that automatically cams the handle and shield apart and simultaneously releases the cutter for cleaning.
Another object is to provide such an assembly that is operable in the reverse direction to provide a tight joint between the shield and supporting handle and also to provide an assembly with sized parts for proper orientation in assembly and disassembly.